"If you lost that many players, you should have called a timeout and come seen me," Lazo said in an interview this week. "My team is not dirty. All the issues were on their side of the field. This is a football game, not a Hallmark moment."

I'd be willing to bet this guy is one of those "go for the knees" type coaches

We recently attended a pair of junior high (6-8) football games in Western Maryland, north of Cumberland; my niece is a cheerleader for the teams. There was one play that just absolutely made me sick. during the JV game, on a muffed punt, the ball was bounding from the hash marks 3-4 yards at a time, clearly heading out of bounds. One player on the receiving team was jogging behind it, but there was absolutely no chance whatsoever that he would ever catch up to it, and he wasn't making a serious effort. One of the blockers on the kicking team comes SCREAMING down the sideline and launches himself into the most unnecessary Sean-Taylor-on-Brian-Moorman hit to the kid jogging after the ball, who crashes to the ground like he got hit by a freight train. The ref throws a flag for unnecessary roughness and the crowd goes ape shiat. These parents are screaming the most vile invective at the ref that it was a perfectly good play, he was going for the ball, yada yada, meanwhile the 10 year old who just had his soul forcibly extracted through his spine is struggling to get to his feet, and the kicking team's coach is tearing the ever-loving crap out of the player who laid the hit, "We don't play like that" over and over. There was almost a riot because the ref and the kicking team's coach were actually concerned with the players' safety. It was one of the most disheartening things I've ever experienced in person.

I should mention that the kicking team was up by three or four scores at the end of the 3rd in a game with 9-minute quarters.

Marcus Aurelius:I played pee wee ball in the 70's, and it was rough, but nobody was going helmet to helmet.

The parents were the worst.

They still are. I was an assistant coach on one of my son's Pee Wee teams, as was the Dad of our RB. The RB gets dinged pretty hard right before half and the head coach and I are taking a look at him on the sidelines. This kid was clearly dazed. I asked him the score, what day it was, etc, had no idea. His dad is standing right there whole time going, "no, no, he's fine, he can play".

I looked him right in the eye and said, "John, aren't you a nurse? He clearly has signs of a concussion. After everything we know now do you really want to risk his health over a Pee Wee game?" That finally got him to back down.

I couldn't believe it. This guy is a farking nurse and KNOWS better, but was ready to send his kid back out there.

mc_madness:These concussed kids sound like they have gaping vaginas between their legs.

These little nancies belong in a kitchen not on the field of battle. Pussies.

This is what I have been saying for years. Alabama football programs would not tolerate any student leaving the field with a "concussion" or a "spinal injury", whatever that is. There is a reason that we instituted selective service for all healthy males from ages 5 to 14. When the Alabama All-Stars lost to Georgia in 1997, Alabama responded to the crisis by calling up 70,000 students for basic training. And while a couple hundred may have lost their lives in the ensuing football camps, that is the price you pay for dominance at the high school football level. Some may call this "brutal", some may call it "illegal", but I call it "Alabama football". It should not surprise anyone that an article in the New York Times is trying to take our way of life away from us.

scottydoesntknow:"If you lost that many players, you should have called a timeout and come seen me," Lazo said in an interview this week. "My team is not dirty. All the issues were on their side of the field. This is a football game, not a Hallmark moment."

I'd be willing to bet this guy is one of those "go for the knees" type coaches

Marcus Aurelius:I played pee wee ball in the 70's, and it was rough, but nobody was going helmet to helmet.

The parents were the worst.

When I coached Little League football, you know who I found had the least common sense or care for the kids? The parents. I can't tell you how many times I had to make a discretionary call to pull a kid from a game because I saw him favoring a leg or possibly suffer a concussion (hard to tell most times, but I leaned toward better safe than sorry), and then had to deal with parents coming through the ropes, not to make sure Johnny was ok, but to question my judgment. The kid's in tears, holding his arm and clearly not able to play, and I'm getting accused of coddling. Fortunately, the majority of parents who knew me and understood my program made it clear that they appreciated my decision-making, but the few idiots sometimes made that volunteer position suck.

And the absolute worst parents were the peewee parents. Friggin' six year old kids and some of their parents think they're future pros and have the constitutions of adults. These parents couldn't understand that these first graders are just little kids. No, they don't have the stamina of the older kids. No, they're not going to understand the game overnight. Yes, they get scared. Sorry, you may think that tackle shouldn't have hurt them much, but to them it hurts like hell! Just a few asshole parents each season could make it hell on the coaches. And god help you if you lost a game on top of supposedly coddling a kid. Heads will roll!

Most Little League and Pop Warner programs are non-profits that run peewee, freshman, j.v., and varsity level football teams up to an age and/or weight limit. The day-to-day operations of the program are typically overseen by a board that includes a president, v.p., secretary, and treasurer, along with other positions.

In the small community where I coached, I would estimate it took the work of around 30 adults each week to run the program.

Tackle football for prepubescent kids is pure insanity. I mean, it's not good for you later in life either, but it's worse when your growth plates are still open and ripe for fracture.

When I was a resident, I took care of a teenager who sustained a very severe concussion playing sports. She went to a neurologist, who said, "you have changes on your MRI from your injury. You must never play contact sports again." She said, "I'd rather die than stop playing." She went back to play.

One year later, she sustained another head injury. Nothing crazy, just a knock on the noggin. But it resulted in what we call "second impact syndrome," and the consequences were devastating. Her brain swelled severely, and they had to life-flight her to the hospital, where neurosurgeons removed part of her skull to decompress her brain. She survived, but spent a year in a basically vegetative state, and is re-learning how to walk, talk, etc. She will almost certainly have some degree of permanent brain damage.

The moral of the story is, no game is worth your brain. Parents, do your job and protect your children.

I played from 10 through h.s., mostly as a middle linebacker. Could have gone to college on it. If I'm gonna relive my youth vicariously through my son, it will be as a gay-ass soccer player and flower picking right-fielder...far, far from the parents and fans.

MajorGroove:The moral of the story is, no game is worth your brain. Parents, do your job and protect your children.

I got concussion #1 my freshman year (high school) and called it quits. I loved the game (wasn't particularly great at it) but walking around in a fog for a month because of a football game was just stupid.

ipsofacto:I played from 10 through h.s., mostly as a middle linebacker. Could have gone to college on it. If I'm gonna relive my youth vicariously through my son, it will be as a gay-ass soccer player and flower picking right-fielder...far, far from the parents and fans.

//Well, maybe not the moms

I got what was probably my first concussion playing soccer. I got run into from behind and my head broke my fall. I never saw a doctor, but probably should have, but it was before people thought you could get a concussion playing soccer. After other concussions I had later in life, I'm pretty sure that was one as well.

davidphogan:I got what was probably my first concussion playing soccer. I got run into from behind and my head broke my fall. I never saw a doctor, but probably should have, but it was before people thought you could get a concussion playing soccer. After other concussions I had later in life, I'm pretty sure that was one as well.

I've gotten 3 total from football and 2 from basketball. The difference between football and basketball was that in football I was taken off the field, diagnosed, and recovered. Whereas with basketball I played through it because its a popular belief that it only happens in football.

thecpt:I love football, but surprised my gf by saying that I will never allow my children to play peewee. No football until you have to shave.

This.

My dad played most of his young life and was actually good enough to have a short stint with the NFL in the 50's. Even though he stopped playing in his early 20's... he's still a mangled mess.No tackle football 'til HS was the rule for us. My older brothers made it one season... I played through HS and a couple years in D3 college.

When I get out of bed on rainy mornings... I really wish I hadn't. I can't imagine the horror of being a 40 or 50 year old retired NFLer.

I love football... but tackle football for kids less than HS age needs to be farking outlawed.

/I was also a decent pitcher as a pup... but dad refused to allow me to throw breaking pitches.//I hated him for that when I was 10 years old.///I need to call my dad.////CSB/ Slashies!!

davidphogan:ipsofacto: I played from 10 through h.s., mostly as a middle linebacker. Could have gone to college on it. If I'm gonna relive my youth vicariously through my son, it will be as a gay-ass soccer player and flower picking right-fielder...far, far from the parents and fans.

//Well, maybe not the moms

I got what was probably my first concussion playing soccer. I got run into from behind and my head broke my fall. I never saw a doctor, but probably should have, but it was before people thought you could get a concussion playing soccer. After other concussions I had later in life, I'm pretty sure that was one as well.

Soccer is the #1 cause of concussions in young females. You can get one just from heading the ball.

No doubt about it fail...fail everywhere. game should have been called . the punishments are just. i would also suggest the winning team's players be weighed by an independent physician , in front of coaches and parents to verify they are not over the weight limit.

I played varsity football in high school. By the time I reached my senior year I was 6'4 and roughly 275lbs. So needless to say I was a big 'ol corn-fed country boy. Most Midwestern boys are pretty bulky, but there was still quite a few guys who were still hitting puberty, so the size and ability difference could be staggering at times. You know the scene from The Blind Side where Oher is lined up against the tiny backup because he already crushed the starter? Yeaaaaa. That happened more than you'd think.

Our region of the State only had flag football up until high school, and looking back I'm glad. I've since watched peewee and middle school games, and I find tackle football for that age to be unnecessary. There is enough physical contact with flag football and you can focus on the rules of football and other fundamentals.

/jacked up my leg senior year while snowboarding on vacation and lost any chance of playing in college//ended up going into computer science ... the other nerds all looked at me as if I was Hercules when I walked in Freshman year

themeaningoflifeisnot:Folks, this is why you should get your kids into lacrosse. Action, controlled hitting that rarely results in serious injury, and lots of scoring. Lax is where it's at.

That is a very interesting theory, if you believe all the people that think the NFL and football in general in 30 years will be marginalized to the point boxing is right now (although, boxing's wane in popularity I'm not sure has to do with the violence as some people state, otherwise, MMA wouldn't be as popular as it is, basically taking the fan base that used to be with boxing).

But, if you go with that theory, there is a lot of money at various levels there that now becomes "freed up". MLB, NBA, even NHL and MLS probably absorb some of that, but, another sport will probably be able to advance greatly as a league sport, and lacrosse probably seems like the best bet. It is on a fairly high growth curve right now (although anything starting from almost 0 is going to have a high % of growth). And even some great NFL players were also lacrosse players (like Jim Brown), so, you can make some comparisons.

thecpt:I love football, but surprised my gf by saying that I will never allow my children to play peewee. No football until you have to shave.

Not only is it dangerous, Pee Wee football is meaningless, in terms of developing football knowledge and skills. Kids really don't even have to start playing before high school to develop the skills and athleticism they need to (maybe) play at the college level and beyond.

And, FWIW, this isn't just an opinion I pulled out of my ass, I've heard the above from a few sources, including a former coach in the BC and Carolina Panthers organizations, and a guy who was director of football operations at WVU...

Funny thing is this attitude is also seen among adults who really should know better. I play in a beer hockey league; we had a guy fracture two fingers. He stepped out a for a few weeks, came back and broke it again

dletter:themeaningoflifeisnot: Folks, this is why you should get your kids into lacrosse. Action, controlled hitting that rarely results in serious injury, and lots of scoring. Lax is where it's at.

That is a very interesting theory, if you believe all the people that think the NFL and football in general in 30 years will be marginalized to the point boxing is right now (although, boxing's wane in popularity I'm not sure has to do with the violence as some people state, otherwise, MMA wouldn't be as popular as it is, basically taking the fan base that used to be with boxing).

But, if you go with that theory, there is a lot of money at various levels there that now becomes "freed up". MLB, NBA, even NHL and MLS probably absorb some of that, but, another sport will probably be able to advance greatly as a league sport, and lacrosse probably seems like the best bet. It is on a fairly high growth curve right now (although anything starting from almost 0 is going to have a high % of growth). And even some great NFL players were also lacrosse players (like Jim Brown), so, you can make some comparisons.

Lacrosse is a great game, but its definitely not without risk. I played in HS, and had what I now figure was at least one concussion, probably due to the fact that we were playing an opponent with a brand new LAX program that was made up entirely of off-season football players. (We smoked them on the scoreboard, but we all still went home beat up), and teammates of mine broke collarbones, arms and fingers.

bottsicus:Lacrosse is a great game, but its definitely not without risk.

Yeah... Lacrosse, football and ice hockey were the three my parents considered dangerous enough they wouldn't let me play before high school. I don't think too many parents that don't want kids playing football will want them to switch to Lacrosse instead.

HellRaisingHoosier:I played varsity football in high school. By the time I reached my senior year I was 6'4 and roughly 275lbs. So needless to say I was a big 'ol corn-fed country boy. Most Midwestern boys are pretty bulky, but there was still quite a few guys who were still hitting puberty, so the size and ability difference could be staggering at times. You know the scene from The Blind Side where Oher is lined up against the tiny backup because he already crushed the starter? Yeaaaaa. That happened more than you'd think.

Our region of the State only had flag football up until high school, and looking back I'm glad. I've since watched peewee and middle school games, and I find tackle football for that age to be unnecessary. There is enough physical contact with flag football and you can focus on the rules of football and other fundamentals.

/jacked up my leg senior year while snowboarding on vacation and lost any chance of playing in college//ended up going into computer science ... the other nerds all looked at me as if I was Hercules when I walked in Freshman year

As a six four, 175 pound receiver in high school, the coaches took great delight in putting me on the d-line during practice. I think they wanted to see how far I could fly.

Despite the fact that he's yet to turn 3, I've repeatedly told my son, since he was born, that Mom and Dad would support and encourage him no matter what he decided to do with his life - with the only probable exception of football or professional boxing. Dancer? Have fun. Artist? No problem. Centerfielder or point guard? Great. Engineer, accountant, missionary, preacher, auto mechanic, electronics repairman? All fine. Linebacker or running back? We need to have a talk.

Of course someone's going to get hurt when you have all that furniture flailing and running about after someone says the Word of the Day. Chairy put 3 kids in the hospital after she tipped over on them last week!

dletter:themeaningoflifeisnot: Folks, this is why you should get your kids into lacrosse. Action, controlled hitting that rarely results in serious injury, and lots of scoring. Lax is where it's at.

That is a very interesting theory, if you believe all the people that think the NFL and football in general in 30 years will be marginalized to the point boxing is right now (although, boxing's wane in popularity I'm not sure has to do with the violence as some people state, otherwise, MMA wouldn't be as popular as it is, basically taking the fan base that used to be with boxing).

But, if you go with that theory, there is a lot of money at various levels there that now becomes "freed up". MLB, NBA, even NHL and MLS probably absorb some of that, but, another sport will probably be able to advance greatly as a league sport, and lacrosse probably seems like the best bet. It is on a fairly high growth curve right now (although anything starting from almost 0 is going to have a high % of growth). And even some great NFL players were also lacrosse players (like Jim Brown), so, you can make some comparisons.

Boxing waning popularity has to do with it being so dirty behind the scenes. You can only see judges hand a decision victory to an undeserving fighter so many times before just giving up.

A word - don't play peewee football or any other sort of football, play golf and tennis, instead. I know, 'wuss' sports, however, unlike football they're things you can do for the rest of your life - and, as you get older, being good at golf and tennis trumps once being good at football, no lie.

I'm going to throw it out there: I see no reason for children to okay tackle football before high school. Play flag football until then and you're learning almost everything you need with a tiny percentage of the injuries.

MajorGroove:davidphogan: ipsofacto: I played from 10 through h.s., mostly as a middle linebacker. Could have gone to college on it. If I'm gonna relive my youth vicariously through my son, it will be as a gay-ass soccer player and flower picking right-fielder...far, far from the parents and fans.

//Well, maybe not the moms

I got what was probably my first concussion playing soccer. I got run into from behind and my head broke my fall. I never saw a doctor, but probably should have, but it was before people thought you could get a concussion playing soccer. After other concussions I had later in life, I'm pretty sure that was one as well.

Soccer is the #1 cause of concussions in young females. You can get one just from heading the ball.

Knee injurious are incredibly common, too. Calisthenics are incredibly important for girls playing soccer to strengthen the neck and knees but a mouth guard and neoprene knee braves help tremendously.

Mike_LowELL:mc_madness: These concussed kids sound like they have gaping vaginas between their legs.

These little nancies belong in a kitchen not on the field of battle. Pussies.

This is what I have been saying for years. Alabama football programs would not tolerate any student leaving the field with a "concussion" or a "spinal injury", whatever that is. There is a reason that we instituted selective service for all healthy males from ages 5 to 14. When the Alabama All-Stars lost to Georgia in 1997, Alabama responded to the crisis by calling up 70,000 students for basic training. And while a couple hundred may have lost their lives in the ensuing football camps, that is the price you pay for dominance at the high school football level. Some may call this "brutal", some may call it "illegal", but I call it "Alabama football". It should not surprise anyone that an article in the New York Times is trying to take our way of life away from us.

HellRaisingHoosier:I played varsity football in high school. By the time I reached my senior year I was 6'4 and roughly 275lbs. So needless to say I was a big 'ol corn-fed country boy. Most Midwestern boys are pretty bulky, but there was still quite a few guys who were still hitting puberty, so the size and ability difference could be staggering at times. You know the scene from The Blind Side where Oher is lined up against the tiny backup because he already crushed the starter? Yeaaaaa. That happened more than you'd think.

Our region of the State only had flag football up until high school, and looking back I'm glad. I've since watched peewee and middle school games, and I find tackle football for that age to be unnecessary. There is enough physical contact with flag football and you can focus on the rules of football and other fundamentals.

/jacked up my leg senior year while snowboarding on vacation and lost any chance of playing in college//ended up going into computer science ... the other nerds all looked at me as if I was Hercules when I walked in Freshman year

CSB Hoos, I had almost the same story, except I'm a little smaller (6'1" 250) and somehow managed to turn into a black trench-coat wearing, longish hair having , metal band t-shirt wearing headcase going into college. I studied IT at a small CC en route to a BS and got pretty much the same reaction. I'm 30 now and my kids will be allowed to play whatever sport they'd like; but if it's football, we're having a talk....

kudayta:This is why kids should wrestle instead. All of the violence, none of the high speed impacts.

I'm with you Kudayta, I wrestled for 7 years and played football for 5, I had 3x as many injuries playing football (knees and neck) than I did wrestling (a broken arm and a couple of hyper-extensions) and the only time I've ever been knocked unconscious was in football. I also got a shiat-load more respect as a wrestler, there were lots of football players, but only about a third as many wrestlers. Everyone thought that the wrestlers were "mean", I don't know what gave them that idea... I love both sports, but only one is the reason I walk a bit funny when it rains and get nerve "tingles" every time I sneeze hard....

Marcus Aurelius:I played pee wee ball in the 70's, and it was rough, but nobody was going helmet to helmet.

The parents were the worst.

Stupid personal anecdote time:

I used to umpire Little League. One fine game day, I'm told by the league commissioner that at the league meeting the previous night, by a 2/3 majority vote of the parents, that only 3 adults are allowed in the team dugout at any given time, and I should absolutely make sure that rule is enforced today.

Game starts, and some time between innings I notice the visiting team has 5 adults in the dugout, coach, assistant coach, and 3 parents. I go over to the dugout and politely remind the coach of the new rule. He says, "oh, yeah, ok, sure" with the kind of tone that implies he doesn't really care about the rule.

Next half inning I go over and again remind him as the situation hasn't changed, this time I make a point to call the other 3 adults over as well. I'm barraged with complaints like, "What, I can't be with my son?" and "You can't just make up new rules like this." One parent gets in my face to the point that I feel a bit threatened, as I'm 5'10" 160 and he's friggin' huge. At that point I take the game ball from the pitcher warming up and announce that the visiting team will forfeit if it does not comply with the league rule instituted the previous night by a vote of the parents. They grudgingly comply.

The now very tense game finishes, and as I'm walking to my car I got bumped twice and had another guy tell me that I should, "watch out driving home, you never know what's going to happen."

LoneWolf343:dletter: themeaningoflifeisnot: Folks, this is why you should get your kids into lacrosse. Action, controlled hitting that rarely results in serious injury, and lots of scoring. Lax is where it's at.

That is a very interesting theory, if you believe all the people that think the NFL and football in general in 30 years will be marginalized to the point boxing is right now (although, boxing's wane in popularity I'm not sure has to do with the violence as some people state, otherwise, MMA wouldn't be as popular as it is, basically taking the fan base that used to be with boxing).

But, if you go with that theory, there is a lot of money at various levels there that now becomes "freed up". MLB, NBA, even NHL and MLS probably absorb some of that, but, another sport will probably be able to advance greatly as a league sport, and lacrosse probably seems like the best bet. It is on a fairly high growth curve right now (although anything starting from almost 0 is going to have a high % of growth). And even some great NFL players were also lacrosse players (like Jim Brown), so, you can make some comparisons.

Boxing waning popularity has to do with it being so dirty behind the scenes. You can only see judges hand a decision victory to an undeserving fighter so many times before just giving up.

Probably that, and, really, since Tyson and Holyfield, the sport hasn't been able to create a good group of recognizable "stars". Near the end of the Tyson/Holyfield era, a 50+ year old Foreman was still be trotted around as a "legit" fighter. I mean, even if you didn't like ANY sports, you were probably familiar with Ali, Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tyson, Holyfield. Now a days, probably the biggest "star' is Pacquiao, and really he is only known with somewhat serious sports fans... he isn't really even known in a general "pop culture" sense like the others I mentioned.

zarberg:Marcus Aurelius: I played pee wee ball in the 70's, and it was rough, but nobody was going helmet to helmet.

The parents were the worst.

Stupid personal anecdote time:

I used to umpire Little League. One fine game day, I'm told by the league commissioner that at the league meeting the previous night, by a 2/3 majority vote of the parents, that only 3 adults are allowed in the team dugout at any given time, and I should absolutely make sure that rule is enforced today.

Game starts, and some time between innings I notice the visiting team has 5 adults in the dugout, coach, assistant coach, and 3 parents. I go over to the dugout and politely remind the coach of the new rule. He says, "oh, yeah, ok, sure" with the kind of tone that implies he doesn't really care about the rule.

Next half inning I go over and again remind him as the situation hasn't changed, this time I make a point to call the other 3 adults over as well. I'm barraged with complaints like, "What, I can't be with my son?" and "You can't just make up new rules like this." One parent gets in my face to the point that I feel a bit threatened, as I'm 5'10" 160 and he's friggin' huge. At that point I take the game ball from the pitcher warming up and announce that the visiting team will forfeit if it does not comply with the league rule instituted the previous night by a vote of the parents. They grudgingly comply.

The now very tense game finishes, and as I'm walking to my car I got bumped twice and had another guy tell me that I should, "watch out driving home, you never know what's going to happen."

That was the last game I ever umped.

/CSB//and yeah, parents ARE the worst.

We had a softball ump get beat after a game last year, broken nose and bruises. I've got boys so we're not out at those fields, but it is one big sports complex for the town. I would say I can't believe it happened, but then I look around at the parents out there and get surprised it doesn't happen more often.